Compensation payouts to teachers hit a record £7.6m

Teachers belonging to the UK’s largest teaching union won a record £7.6m compensation last year in personal injury payouts and employment tribunal awards.

The figure was published in the annual report of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, which also catalogues some of the more serious cases of violence faced by teachers.

Over £1.8m was awarded to members in personal injury claims last year, the NASUWT said, including £129,600 for a teacher in Preston who was hit on the head by a brick thrown by a pupil, and £27,500 for a teacher from Manchester who was attacked by a 12-year-old.

The union’s incoming president, Brian Garvey, said respect had decreased in schools and the government needed to send a clearer message that the abuse of teachers will not be tolerated.

Other substantial rewards went to the head of art, craft, design and technology at a school in Nottinghamshire who was awarded £145,600 after developing chronic rhino sinusitis (inflammation of the lining of the nose) as a result of exposure to wood dust.

Another teacher in Wales received £250,000 for a back injury caused by lifting equipment from her employer’s car.

The report also showed that the union submitted 61 applications to employment tribunals last year, including applications for unlawful deduction of wages, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, and discrimination on grounds of sex, race, disability and religion.